Hey Everyone,
Thanks for your prayers for me the past few weeks. All I can say is KEEP PRAYING. There has been so much good that has happened and some hard times but God has been faithful through it all — as ALWAYS!!
The group was soooo wonderful from UGA Wesleyan Foundation. They did a wonderful job in every way. The last day they were here, they went back up to the village to distribute clothes and shoes, toothbrushes, etc. etc. and Carlos was on the side and was able to lead 14 adults to Christ. Keep praying for the village of Santa Rosita. We now have quite a few children who have received Jesus and those 14 adults but there are many more to reach in that village. It is so exciting to go somewhere that has not beenreached for Jesus Christ before.
I know I sounded a little discouraged in the last email and I figured out why I was feeling down — I was in pain!! I had what I thought was a boil developing on my upper back and it was very painful so I stayed on Advil constantly that week but by the end of the week it was keeping me up at night. I couldn’t get to the doctor until Saturday morning and he said it was some kind of an absess. He ended up having to give injections of anesthesia to deaden it all and then cut parts out and squeezed the infection out too. I had let it go too long in my system though and am still ( a week later) in a lot of pain and still having fever with it. I am better definitely but not well yet. I am on penicillian and also got an injection of antibiotics and may have to return on Saturday for another one. Please PLEASE pray for me to completely get rid of all this infection. The wound is still draining a lot so that is good I guess but is all just so difficult.
God is sooooo good though to me. I had really been struggling with an area in my life in that I felt like I was for some reason resisting the presence of God at times and couldn’t understand it. I asked God many times lately to please show me what this resistence was. Well, he answered me. David, the leader of the group from UGA had copied 40 CDs for me and a few of them were sermons by Mike Bickle and John Piper. They were EXACTLY what I needed to hear and God even put me in bed so that I would have time to hear the answer that He had sent to me. It was so great and has been a very good time for me in spite of the pain!! I think my bottom line problem is that I still think of God as mostly mad at me or mostly sad (disappointed) with me and the real truth is that he is mostly GLAD with me and enjoys me and desires my presence. If my perception of God is not right then I will not desire to be with him. Who wants to run into the presence of someone that is half mad at them or always disappointed at them. Mike Bickle made the challenge to start over in the Word and mark every verse that teaches the truth about the Lord’s heart for us. he said that David was a man after God’s own heart and he truly understood the emotions and heart of God. I really am seeking to understand that better and am going to start doing that verse hunt through the Bible to help me really truly believe what God sees in me and I will run into his presence with joy to be with him, knowing He desires me too. Anyway, that is a very short summary of all tha God taught me but it has really been the answer I was needing and God was so faithful to me in my sickness to give me what I desired to know of Him.
We had great news. The van is in Houston and will be shipped in a few weeks. Those precious friends in Houston are collecting some stuff for shipping in the van to us and that will be a great help as well. Please pray for all the details to work out and for safety for our stuff and the van (that is a problem often here). I’m so excited to think we can take the children out somewhere soon.
Pray on Saturday night for the men’s meeting of about 60 men from the villages nearby. Pray for Pastor Carlos as he leads them and disciples these men. It is such an incredible opportunity — if we get 60 men strong in christ, we actually will have 60 families, the women and children will gladly follow these men.
All the kids keep developing all kinds of rashes and bug bites — I guess it is normal because of the time they spend playing in the grass and dirt and sand all the time, but please pray for me to be able to know what is normal and what needs to be looked at by a doctor. They have to be the happiest kids on the whole earth — you just wouldn’t believe all the fun and laughs they have every day. I love living with them. They are so obedient and smart and I know God has hand-chosen them for big things for Him one day to further His kingdom all over the world.
We have a pretty exciting prospect about getting electricity. Dusti, the young lady from Pennsylvania that is coming to help for the month of April, works in building next to a group called Tech Serve International. Someone just told her that they are a missions group that specialize in taking electricity to orphanages and other missions that can’t get it otherwise. They provide everything and all we would have to do would be to pay the hotel and meals for the group they send to do the work. We already have permission from the electric company here and Dusti is going to appeal to them to help Destino del Reino. Pray that she will be able to make the right contacts soon before coming here in a few weeks and that God will give us favor in their sight. It is so exciting and I don’t know that this is what God plans to do for us, b ut it sure is a great sounding possibility!! We are continuing to struggle with things with the electricity but are getting used to candles at night again. I’ve sure grown a lot more flexible this year than I had ever been before in my life and the kids, of course, don’t seem to know the difference anyway — so we are all surviving well in spite of the difficulties.
Vanessa’s baby is due in about 3 weeks and we can’t wait to have a new baby around. Our babies are getting so big now and out playing with the big kids so we are excited to have a little one with us. A friend in Houston has collected the money for the C-section so we can keep Vanessa with the doctor that she is comfortable with and not have to go to a free hospital. God is so good to provide even those extras for us always.
Keep praying for us to find the right worker here — I thought we had found her but there have been some problems so we are looking again. God will bring just the right person that HE wants here with us in the ministry. Thanks for praying.
Well, I am kind of rambling tonight because of the pain pills, most likely, so I won’t continue any longer. Thank you though for praying and I’ll write next week when I am feeling better — Lord-willing. Thanks for your continued encouragement to me through the hard times. Be sure and see the web site when you can since it has been updated a little more again. www.destinodelreino.org
Love to everyone of you — you are such a big part of this ministry and we would not be able to continue without all the prayers!! God is answering.
Love in His Amazing GRACE,
Rhonda
